kscans

Chapter 32 - Single-Minded Diligence

Back in his days at the Hokura dojo, Shintaro had been a sudden and unwelcome thorn in Shozaburo's side.

A dojo was a dojo, no matter where you went, but whether it was prestigious or not was a crucial matter that affected one's own name. For that reason, Shozaburo had passed through the gates of Hokura. There, his talent had blossomed magnificently. He started by achieving the first dan in his first year, second dan a year later, third dan two years after that, and so on, raising his rank every year. It was not something everyone could accomplish. And then, three years later, just as he had earned his fourth dan and was being praised for his talent, with talk of him even being a candidate for deputy master, it happened. Shintaro arrived. He was a boy two years younger, about whom Shozaburo had heard occasional rumors. He was seventeen years old. A tall, handsome young man who looked as if he might already be fully grown. Moreover, he possessed a skill that should be called not just talented or genius, but prodigious. He was quickly favored by the master, fell for his daughter, skipped all the ranks, and shot up to deputy master. If you looked only at the surface, it was an abnormal situation where it would be strange not to resent him. It would be an understatement to say Shozaburo was seething with rage, as he too had made blood-curdling efforts in secret to steadily raise his rank, never resting on his talent. He had always aimed for the top, dreaming of the day the dojo would be entrusted to him. And a boy who had just joined had snatched it from him from the side. But whenever they sparred, Shozaburo lost more than he won, and he was never able to defeat him. It's absurd, Shozaburo had muttered in his heart.

There were many other disciples who felt the same way as Shozaburo. Especially those who were said to be among the best. They had all dreamed of it. The day they would be hailed as the one in this prestigious dojo. But no matter how jealous they were of Shintaro, they couldn't be blatant about it, as he was favored by Saimon, the dojo master and instructor. The talk of him becoming his son-in-law made it even more difficult. On top of that, for some reason, he never got a big head, so there were no openings to exploit. When he took on a teaching role, he was more enthusiastic than in his own practice, treated everyone without prejudice, and was always completely honest. The more jealous they became, the more they were made to realize their own smallness.

But even a man like Shintaro would sometimes look up at the sky with a vacant expression. Shozaburo couldn't understand what he was dissatisfied with. Even though they both aspired to the same path of the sword, he just couldn't understand.

*

How much Shintaro had agonized over the disciples back then. And just how much he had loved Mana. The Shozaburo of today understood it all well. Shintaro had tried to give up wielding his own sword and live for the sake of a girl. But he couldn't abandon his ambition, and even under constraints, he had entrusted it to the disciples. The dream of standing as a true swordsman. In reality, it was not Hokura Saimon but Shintaro who had helped those who were stuck, unable to advance in rank. While making them adhere to the school's forms, he had skillfully used their individual quirks to help them win. He had a talent for turning people's weaknesses into strengths. Forgetting such kindness, they had all been harsh to Shintaro when he lost his position because their festering jealousy had won out. They had become possessed by a wretched desire to strike him as much as they could, now that he was down. It was tantamount to proving their own defeat, but they had felt as if they had won.

"God must exist, I suppose," Shozaburo murmured. The swordsmanship he had seen from Shintaro in the outdoor training ground the other day was truly divine. A magnificent leap and a lion's gaze that cleared the heart. A powerful sword stroke—that power, which should never have been consigned to darkness, must have been sent out into the world by the hand of God, driving Shintaro out of the capital. It was so brilliant that he couldn't help but think so.

*

"Wouldn't it have been better to wield your sword to your heart's content at Hokura's, without holding back?" Shozaburo asked on an impulse, still feeling a certain lack of clarity despite understanding the various feelings involved. Shintaro gave a wry smile.

"The master was a man of rigid ideas, and if he had said he couldn't give his daughter to a monster, I would have had nowhere to stand." Shozaburo grunted, "I see." So he couldn't risk losing Mana by making a once-in-a-lifetime gamble.

As the two of them spoke while walking along the path to the training ground, Senkichi, who happened to see them with Saneyuki, tilted his head. "I can't for the life of me understand how he can walk so amicably alongside a man who was a disciple at Hokura's."

Then Saneyuki spoke. "Shintaro-dono is in pain."

Senkichi looked at Saneyuki in surprise. "In pain?"

"No matter how much he says he forgives, the humiliation he suffered in the East is not so simple. But Shintaro-dono understands. That if he doesn't forgive, no one will be saved. Neither the one who doesn't forgive nor the one who is not forgiven. He can't continue to live his whole life suffering with hatred. He can't move forward like that, and above all, he himself will not be saved. That is why he is acting as he is."

"But—"

"His life was not taken. From an outsider's perspective, it's merely a lovers' quarrel. Even if it was a life-altering event, such things happen in all sorts of circumstances. There are feelings in this world that must be cut off somewhere."

"...Can they be cut off?"

"If you don't, you're the one who falls." Senkichi's expression clouded over.

"What would happen if he were to fall?" To that anxious question, Saneyuki answered with a smile.

"I am prepared to support him."